When the Droid Incredible came out last year, I even think next to the HTC Evo, it was definitely one of the best Android phones on the market. I didn’t really think about how HTC could make it more incredible but they managed to do so. Now available at Verizon, the Droid Incredible 2. Out the box, you know you have purchased something worth showing off. Out the store it comes with all the instructions you’d need, battery, and wall/USB charger.
With the Incredible 2, right away you realize really this is a new phone. I see honestly why they choose to keep original name due to market value the first Droid held but in reality there’s more new with the version that makes it a different phone. The first Droid came with a keyboard, was heavier and of course the Android curse if the battery. This model has the virtual touch screen keyboard instead.
No keyboard, much thinner as you can see, the screen is a lot brighter and yes, you can use it effectely outside now. Also the battery is much improved although still not good for a whole work day. I tested the phone in the best environment possible-a day long conference.
Size wise it’s lighter and easier to handle in your hand and thumb type. It was a great feel with the rubberized back (no slipping out your hand). New dimensions: 4.75 x 2.52x 0.48 inches, even with my small hands that’s perfect. Weight: 4.77 ounces it is much lighter then many of the HTC phones on the market. As I say it’s like EVO went on the P90X plan and now you have Droid Incredible 2. The only downside with this new thin model is now the back does get very warm after constant use (the iPad 2 had similar reviews). I call it the “laptop” effect.
Downloads went super fast from Android Market. Using a Qualcomm MSM8655, 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and comes with a 16gb SD card preinstalled. Phone runs on Android 2.2 operating system. Within minutes I had downloaded all the major apps I use daily.
As for battery, this phone still won’t break the Android battery curse, but it gives about an added hour of real life use. With back models you were lucky to get three hours of real use out of the phone, this model I went from 8am until noon and was running several multi-media apps. I took photos with the 8mp camera, “twit pic’ed” them and live-tweeted the conference, checked-in via Foursquare and connected with attendees via Hashable. Much mention, it handles Flash great as well for those sites you want to use that still run Flash. Best point is after completely running battery dead it only took about forty-five minutes to completely recharge phone.
Mention camera, we are all multi-media creators now, this phone won’t let you down. With a crisp, focused, 8mp back camera with dual flash and a front facing 1.3mp camera (without flash). The camera has automatic face recognition to help better take nice shots that won’t some much look like “cellphone pics”. Bonus of camera feature is the camera effects and filters. The video is crisp to for a smartphone shooting short clips at 720p. Good for short clips of ..well whatever you shoot from a cellphone.
Some other keynotes about the phone you might like to know: 4-inch super LCD display, 3G Mobile Hotspot that can connect up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices, equipped with the HTC Sense, global-ready, SRS WOWHDÂ surround sound, and integrated noise-cancellation technology.
All in all, if I was a Verizon subscriber or about to switch providers, this is the phone I’d go for. The Verizon service through NYC (even in the subway) was excellent. While others around me couldn’t get service I had at least two bars. Kudos to Verizon and HTC on this phone. You can pick it up for about $199.99 (new contract/upgrade) with two-year contract. Do you have one yet? Please let us know what you think?
